Step 5: Prep and Decorate the Hanging Pieces

Step 6: Hang and Assemble

Carefully hang the header board in it's chosen spot. I won't cover the basics of hanging something but all the same rules that apply to pictures,...

I'm terrible at remembering my family's birthdays. This bugs my wife to no end because we're always scrambling last minute to find gifts (Thank you Amazon Prime 2-Day shipping). I have a little date book with the birthdays in it but I never think to check it. The solution is a calendar of sorts. There is a board with 12 hooks underneath, one for each month. Hanging on these hooks are, for lack of a better word, small plaques with a family members name and the day their birthday falls in the month. The customization of this project is almost limitless, use different shapes or colors for each side of the family, or for each gender, and obviously the visual style and decorations can be customized to reflect your family. I have to thank my wife for the visual style you see here, she picked the colors and decorations, and her handwriting on the pieces.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Materials

1 1/2" Dia x 1/8" Wooden Circles - $9 for 50, Etsy.com - These don't have to be circles, there are lots of other shapes out there. If you look around you can find a shape that suites your families, maybe a different shape for either side of the family (If you're married/etc.) and for friends. You will write the names and days of each person on the disk so buy as many or few as you need. Having extra for a growing family is a good idea.

26" x 10"x 1" (9.25 x .75) Board - Obviously if your hanging pieces are wider or narrower than 1.5" then you may need/want to adjust the dimensions of the board.

5' Wall Molding - I used thin, almost quarter round, molding as trim on the header board to give it a more finished, framed, look.

Paint, various colors - The board and molding were painted one color, the disks another. You may want to paint one family's circles one color, and the other side of the family a third color. You may also want to paint designs or words onto the header board and/or pieces. (Priming the header board and molding is strongly recommended. I didn't but wish I had.)

Spackle - Used to fill gaps in the molding corners and holes in the header board's surface.

12x Eyelet Screws - These have an eyelet on one end and a small screw on the other, you need one for each month.

S-Hooks - Essentially two hooks attached at one end forming an S shape, used for hanging the name pieces. You need one for every piece you want to hang plus a couple extras for future expansion.

Wood Glue - For attaching the molding.

2x Picture Hangers - There are several ways to hang this, this is just one.

Decorative Stuff - Paint pens for writing on the disks, stencils for lettering the board, etc. This is going in your home, let your style and creativity shine.

Tools

Drill and Bits

Sand Paper

Palm Sander - Optional but it is much easier than sanding everything by hand.

This is beautiful! And your instructions are super clear, thanks! If you want to add to your visual reminder and automate your reminders in real time you can set up a free EverMinder account (everminder.com) and get the reminders for each family bday right in your inbox even with direct links to send the birthday person a message or even flowers or a gift :)

Thanks for the great idea and instructions! This will make a great Christmas gift for the family. I did notice on your materials list you have the board as being 24" x 10" by 1", but in the directions you noted that you used a 26" length board...I didn't know if you wanted to clarify. Thanks!

Good eye. The final dimensions pretty close to 26"x9" but honestly the size isn't really a big deal. As long as it is wide enough for twelve columns of your plaques and tall enough for whatever sort of decorations you want to put on it then you're good to go.

Thank you so much for this Wonderful Idea. I have a very close friend who has oodles of family birthdays (grankids and great grandkids) to keep track of. This will be a perfect gift for her!! Thanks again, Super Duper idea.

About This Instructable

Bio:Why buy when you can DIY? Educated a Mechanical Engineer and trained as a classical cellist I consider myself a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, dabbling in projects from machine design to cooking, ice ho...read more »